#cartoon mean girl bracket

[cartoonmeangirlbracket]

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Allura

Lots of people (myself included tbh) ship klance (Keith and Lance). In s8 the creators made Allura/Lance canon (but then they killed her off and left the ending ambiguous it was weird). Anyway the fandom treats her like she's the most terrible bitchy woman ever but all she wants to do is end the war and avenge her destroyed home planet. Yeah she wasn't always the nicest or always the best, but you could argue some other characters in the show aren't either and they aren't treated near as bad as allura. people really just hate her bc Lance liked her. I don't think allura/lance are good together, but I still liked her as a character and thought she was interesting and had a lot of growth during the show. she DEF is not evil like some people portray her as in fic or talk about her in captions on posts. I've seen people say that they HATE her and that she's the worst and I'm like ??? let her live (well sort of ig she is dead now). lots of fic writers use her as the villain which is so interesting to me bc the show literally has villains like use them. anyway allura so perfectly fits the bracket description she deserves better.

I hate to acknowledge my time in this fandom but I hate the way the fandom treated her more. Allura was treated like shit no matter what side of the Great Ship War you were on because she was always a threat to the biggest ships (klance and sheith). At best she got put into Background Lesbian or Consolation Prize Shallura (Space Mom-zoned) (She was not a motherly figure btw. She was just Black). At worst she was violently demonized for being ~racist~ (kinda not cool with the alien race that blew up her planet for a few episodes), complete with misogynistic language hurled at her (she got called a bitch sooo much). Allura was a good and cool character and the show did her dirty but the fandom was somehow worse.

i apologise for speaking the dark magicks, but amidst the voltron fandoms many, many transgressions, there were a particular subset of people who just hated this girl. the infamous klance wars of the 2010s kept this perfectly fine childrens cartoon character in the sights of shippers everywhere, and she (and her voice actress im sure) were subjected to years of petty squabble blown up to global perportions. ive seen hate, ive seen rants, ive seen fanfics that made her homophobic. girls been through the ringer, and even though voltron was never the show its fandom wanted it to be, i believe allura deserved better

Every Supernatural Woman

Supernatural is so mean to women and committed to queerbaiting but it still gives Sam and Dean lovers to kill. The writers kill and villainize them and the fans get the few that remain

wincest and destiel shippers cannot handle the idea of their blorbos having a Woman THREATENING their SHIPS god FORBID

It literally used to be a running joke that if a female character got introduced you knew she was going to die soon because fans would react so negatively to her "stealing" one of the boys away from the big ship, whether it be destiel or wincest

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 12

The twins celebrate TV premiere day and Viola ages up to a toddler!

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Mercedes has a speech delay and may get words wrong, correct wording will be in brackets if that is the case Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

Lavina: You want... another one? I should think three are enough of a handful already

Rahul: Mum, Cassandra and I want a big family

Lavina: Well I think it’s a terrible idea. The ones you have are already disrespectful

Rahul: Think what you like, we’re trying

Lavina: I suppose you could get lucky and the fourth one will be good mannered

Rahul: Mum you have GOT to stop talking the kids down, they need to be lifted up

Lavina: All this coddling nonsense-

Rahul: I try to be strict mum, I tell them off when they mess up, but there’s only so much they can understand at their age. If you expect me to send them to bed without supper you will be disappointed

Cassandra: Where’s mama? Where’s mama?

Viola: ga du da (I not know)

Cassandra: Here I am Viola

Viola: gree de na na (that’s impossible) *wails*

Cassandra: Oh, it’s okay. Its okay. Mama is here, mama is fine, you are safe green bean

Rahul: Who’s crying? Viola what’s wrong

Viola: *cries* he na di (I not understand)

Cassandra: Turns out she doesn’t like peek-a-boo

Rahul: Don’t tell me I did all that practice on Milton for nothing. Here green bean, watch papa. Watch papa, I’ll do it slowly

Cassandra: Good idea. She’s looking

Rahul: Papa hides. Where did papa go? Oh! Papa is right here with Viola and Mama

Viola: *giggles* gu fa fa (okay that not so scary now)

Cassandra works on her guitar playing before her shift while Rahul takes the calm moment to spend time with Viola.

Rahul: Would you like a younger sibling? I bet you would. You would have an ally against your big sisters wouldn’t you?

Mercedes: TV new (premiere) day here we GOOOOO

Lavina: What

Savannah: It’s a new episode of The Pride Family nana

Lavina: And what’s that

Savannah: Just the best cartoon show. The family’s last name is Lion so they call it the Pride family because a group of lions is a pride

Lavina: Oh how clever you are, here, have a candy

Mercedes: Where’s my candy nana

Lavina: Tell me something clever and you’ll get one

Savannah: Come on nana, Mercedes is super clever

Lavina: As soon as you get in the habit of saying please when you ask, more candy will appear

Rahul: Has it started yet

Mercedes: Almost, 4 and a half minutes to go

Lavina: Don’t tell me you still watch cartoons son

Savannah: Papa is the best at cartoon watching, he always watches with us

Mercedes: Unless Viola is crying

The premiere goes well and at the end Rahul helps the girls with their homework.

Mercedes: Papa I lost my first tooth today

Rahul: Did you little ladybug

Savannah: Yeah in class. We kept it safe now we can both put our teeth under our pillows together

Lavina: But Savannah you lost your tooth several days ago

Mercedes: She was waiting for me nana so we can see the tooth fairy together

Rahul: So if we tick off today, I think you’ve both earned your first scout badge

Mercedes: Yes! Which one

Rahul: Manual says scholarly aptitude

The twins stare blankly at Rahul and then pull confused faces at each other.

Rahul: It means you’ve been doing your homework

The twins understand this and happily celebrate, exchanging best friend bracelets! Rahul goes and wakes a napping Viola for some playtime.

Lavina: Rahul, she needs feeding

Rahul: We’re just playing right now because she’s bored

Lavina: Don’t let the poor thing starve. Feed her

Rahul sighs but scoops Viola off the playmat for a feeding anyway. It is a bit late for her dinner but she hasn’t seemed hungry.

Cassandra: Why are we awake? I think it’s past bedtime

Mercedes: MAMA!

Savannah: We missed you mama

Mercedes: We wanted to see you before bed

Cassandra: My work shift is a bit tricky isn’t it. Okay, come here. Big hugs then teeth and bed

Mercedes: Mama my tooth came out so-

Savannah: We’re going to see the tooth fairy tonight

Cassandra: Only if you actually go to sleep honeybee

Following hugs, kisses and I love you’s, the twins get to bed and tuck their teeth under their pillows.

Cassandra is woken early by two excited children jumping on the bed talking over each other about fairies and simoleons. Eventually she and Rahul manage to shepherd them towards breakfast.

Savannah: They’re quick, but I know I saw a sparkle as they flew

Cassandra: Fairies do sparkle

Mercedes: We need to think, next time we’ll have to see them

Savannah: Hmm. Maybe we-

Lavina: Girls! It’s an hour until school time, why haven’t you started breakfast? And Savannah you’re not even dressed!

Cassandra and Rahul get started on their chores for the day while Lavina watches over the girls who are far to interested in fairies to eat quickly.

Cassandra: *softly* Viola, green bean, time to wake up

Viola: *yawns*

Cassandra: It’s age up day. Mama will help you with your cake

Viola: pa uh Mama?

Cassandra: *gasps* Rahul! RAHUL! She said her first word

Rahul rushes in from lighting candles worrying he missed it. Cassandra scoops Viola out of the crib and turns her towards Rahul.

Cassandra: Can you say mama again for papa? Hmm? Mama for papa

Viola: Mama *yawns and stretches* lo papa

Rahul: Well done green bean! I knew you could do it *tickles tummy*

Cassandra: Please tell me you didn’t just leave fire unsupervised

Rahul blinks and runs back out of the room. Cassandra laughs as Viola nestles into her shoulder. Cassandra carries her to the kitchen and shows her the cake. Viola is very confused by it.

Cassandra: We blow the candles and the flames will go. Bye bye flames

Viola: Mama fla guu (mama flames go?)

Cassandra: Here we can do it together

Cassandra blows a few raspberries on Viola's tummy until the infant is copying the blowing action. Cassandra turns her towards the cake and spit bubbles go everywhere! But with her help the candles go out and Viola giggles in delight.

Viola is a toddler now, and a wild one! I can’t wait to find out her quirks.

Cassandra: Rahul I think we ought to see if she can potty before we head out

Rahul: Yes, that's sounds sensible

Cassandra: Would you help me with potty time

Rahul: Of course my darling. *switches to address Viola* Does someone need to go potty?

Viola: Ga ra papa (I don't know papa)

Cassandra: Sit down green bean

The couple try their best to explain things to Viola but the two and a half year old isn’t following and has an accident.

Rahul: Oh well, can’t be perfect on the first try. Do you want to go on a trip Viola? Hmm?

Cassandra: Let's go to the rec centre, just until the girls will be due home

Rahul: Sounds good. Okay green bean, time to go explore!

Previous ... Next

[autisticgirliesbracket]

What makes Dendy from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes the autistic girlie ever of all time? Here's what the people have to say:

Dendy-related asks/reblogs: x This post will be updated after each round!

Image ID in alt text and under the readmore.

[Image ID. White slide with a screenshot of Dendy in the top left corner. She is surrounded by text boxes which read,

"literally just look up a photo of her and youll understand. buuuut lets see uhh. she shows special interests in technology and these things in the show called pow cards. she has trouble understanding others emotions. her expressions are so. yknow. :|. when she shows up the show literally has this running gag where it plays a YAYYYY stock sfx in the bg. its literally the autism creature yippie. also shes just really cool and deserves to win everything ever. thank you for your time. watch ok ko."

"She's the little tech dork trope but I actually like how she pulls it off! She's constantly impressing K.O. and K.O. even calls her 'A science wizard' once! One of her nicknames that's canon is literally just 'Science baby' and I think that's so cute for her- She even says that she taught herself coding because it's a way to express herself, and I love that so much for her! Anyways I think she's more autistic coded than canonically Autistic but I love her anyways and think she'd fit right in!"

"Idk I just think she's cute and some other people like her, I hope she does well in this bracket"

"Shy, intelligent, and very good at hacking. Takes idioms literally and can act insensitively, but is sweet and has good intentions. Special interests are technology and trading cards. Often accompanied by the sound of kids cheering (not ASD related i just think its neat)."

"Okay, so: Dendy from OK KO is portrayed from the very beginning of the show as a young girl (around KO's age, since he's somewhere around 6-9) who is very logical and structured in her way of seeing the world, but struggles with social cues and expectations that aren't clearly laid out. She has a keen special interest in POW Cards (in-universe trading cards, basically), and this is how she first meets and connects with the protagonist KO. What I adore about this show is that it highlights what lots of people consider to be her being autistic, in a positive light. She has character arcs and self improvement like all of the characters do, she's not perfect, but her way of thinking and being is not demonized in any capacity, even if some characters occasionally don't 'get' her perspective, that's shown the same way as when /she/ doesn't get /their/ perspective. It's not canon that she's autistic, but there's a lot in this show that is coded without being stated explicitly, and because the show is very heavy handed (it is a kid's cartoon!) you get a lot of the positive messages you might expect like "celebrate differences" and whatnot without ever explicitly saying that she's autistic. However I think that it was very much intended! There are probably way better infodumps on Dendy being autistic than this one, haha, but I love her so much!"

"OUGHHH I CANT EVEN WORDS!!!! ANY DENDY CLIP SHOWS IT, SHES THE WORLDS BEST KAPPA UFHFHDBSB"

"Look at her. Silly kappa. I love her. She loves computers. She doesn’t understand emotions. She loves her friend K.O. She wants to be a hero. She’s so good. My sweet baby"

"she has a special interest (coding/robot stuff), she has trouble with empathy, she doesn't pick up on social cues, and more stuff I can't completely put into words cause I'm really bad at that :,)"

"I resonated very deeply with this awkward little kappa but aside from that I got the vibes from her monotone and formal speaking pattern and the way she struggled with understanding social cues or sarcasm. She's also extremely literal and logical to a fault sometimes (like myself) and she's got special intesests in tech and pow cards. She does struggle with understanding how her actions may effect others sometimes but she means well and does try to show that she cares once she does understand. I also see her backpack ("hack-pack") as a comfort item for her as she tends to take it with her everywhere and doesn't allow others to touch it, including her best friend, K.O."

"She's shown to behave in a way where she doesn't show her emotions that much, but when someone brings up her special interests she becomes a gremlin (In this case, POW Cards), she stims on screen, she's shown to be hyperfixated on technology and that's where she's able to infodump and such, im not sure how to explain this very well but yeah, as someone who is autistic themselves, i feel dendy is a great autistic girl!!" End ID.]

[aroaceswagcompetition]

Poll list part 2

Rouge the Bat(Sonic) vs Raphael Santiago(Shadowhunters)🎉

Death The Kid(Soul Eater) vs Tsubomi Takane(Mob Psycho 100)🎉

Berdly(Deltarune) vs Nausicaa(Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)🎉

Din Djarin(The Mandalorian) vs Anzu Hoshino(Romantic Killer)🎉

Amethyst(Steven Universe) vs Steven Stone(Pokemon)🎉

Talfryn(The Penumbra Podcast) vs Stanley(The Stanley Parable)🎉

Clay Terran (Ace Attorney) vs Buttercup(The Powerpuff Girls)🎉

Sei Handa(Barakamon) vs Xu Xialing(Shangchi and the legend of the ten rings)🎉

Sunny(Wings of Fire) vs Beta(Horizon Forbidden West)

Dr. Sylvester Ashling(Epithet Erased) vs Marcy Wu(Amphibia)

Perry the Platypus(Phineas and Ferb) vs Lancer(Deltarune)

Serana Volkihar(The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim) vs Charlie(It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Zhongli(Genshin Impact) vs Tatsumaki(One Punch Man).

V1(Ultrakill) vs Aziraphale and Crowley(Good Omens)

Shaggy(Scooby Doo) vs Itachi Uchiha (Naruto)

Reigen Arataka(Mob Psycho 100) vs Pyuko(Dannganronpa: Hope’s Chains)

Marie(Splatoon) vs Rose Cookie(Cookie Run Kingdom)

Joan D’arc(History) vs Morgana(Merlin)

Murderbot(The Murderbot Diaries) vs Royce Bracket(Transistor (game))

Ryland Grace(Project Hail Mary) vs Hollyleaf(Warrior Cats)

Wolf(Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts) vs Savathûn(Destiny video game)

Damian Wayne(DC Comics) vs Dr. Miranda Jones (Star Trek The Original Series, season 3 episode 5 Is There In Truth No Beauty?)

Keagan Máistirúin(Na Daoine Maithe (The Good People)) vs Sweetheart(Omori)

Kaitou Joker(Kaitou Joker) vs Piccolo (Dragon Ball)

Roach(Our Flag Means Death) vs Alex Fierro(Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard)

Aradia Megido(Homestuck) vs Hestia(Greek Mythology)

Zane Julien(Ninjago) vs Agatha Wellbelove(Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell)

Yelena Belova (Marvel) vs The Bear/Brent/The Pusher/The Fool/Shah Zaman(Ghost Quartet)

The Witch Queen(Old Gods of Appalachia) vs P03(Inscryption)

Lord Havelock Vetinari(Discworld Novels by Terry Pratchett) vs The Knight(Hollow Knight)

Power(Chainsaw Man) vs Jetstorm(Transformers Animated (2007 cartoon))

Athena Cykes(Ace Attorney) vs Grumbot(Hermitcraft)

Yuki Rurikawa(A3!) vs Anonymous/Someone(Our Dreams At Dusk)

James(Pokemon) vs Dipper Pines 1 Mabel Pines1(Gravity Falls)

Charles Emerson Winchester III (M*A*S*H) vs Chaerin Eun(Surviving Romance)

Yamori Kou (Yofukashi no uta) vs Zenyatta(Overwatch)

Mirabel Madrigal (Encanto) vs Entrapta(She-Ra Princess of Power)

Simon Snow(Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell) vs Sabo(One Piece)

Silver(Sonic) vs Gin Akutagawa(Bungou Stray Dogs)

Kankri Vantas(Homestuck) vs Madhouse Mike(Cryptid Crush)

Darius(Owl House) vs Jason Todd(DC)

Emerald Trio:Willow, Hunter,Gus (Owl House) vs Artemis(Overly Sarcastic Productions' Miscellaneous Myths)

Jo March (Little Women 2019) vs Daryl Dixon(The Walking Dead)

Bakura Ryou(YuGiOh!) vs Professor Balaam(Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun)

Granny Smith(MLP) vs Cyborg(Teen Titans)

Maki Katsuragi(Hoshiai no Sora) vs Kaladin Stormblessed(The Stormlight Archive)

Jess(Loveless) vs Asui Tsuyu(BNHA)

GIR(Invader Zim) vs Xiao(Genshin Impact)

Alexa(Xenoblade Chronicles X) vs Selah Summers(Selah and the Spades)

Felix Hugo Fradarius(Fire Emblem 3 Houses) vs Sunil Jha(Loveless)

Madeline Hatter (Ever After High) vs Maya Fey(Ace Attorney)

Kim Dokja(Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint) vs Noé Archiviste(Vanitas no Carte)

Eleven(Stranger Things) vs Jinx(Arcane League of Legends)

Fitzroy Maplecourt(The Adventure Zone) vs Pidge(Voltron)

Volo(Pokemon) vs Cole Brookstone(Ninjago)

Traveler(Genshin Impact) vs Madotsuki(Yume Nikki)

[comshipbracket]

Comship Bracket 2!

Antis DNI

Do you have certain ships that may fall under the category of "Comship" that you'd like to see fight against other ships, seeing which is the most popular of all on tumblr? Well, I may have just the thing for you!

This bracket works similar to most brackets, but rather than sending in one character, you'll send in a ship and let me know which characters the ship is between, which franchise the characters are from, why it falls under "comship" for you, and a little bit of propaganda for the ships!

While we want all participants of this bracket to be kind to each other and to not put down any of our ships, we know how some tumblr users can be. I would advise not looking at some notes if you can't handle the way certain individuals may talk about these ships. Block and report is the easiest way to deal with those that are cruel.

Now! Some Character guidelines:

Characters MUST be fictional in their entirety, this means no character depictions of real people (so no DSMP ships, no YouTuber ships, etc.)

Your ship MUST count as a Comship in some manner, whether that's through age gap, relation, species, etc. It's important we keep this bracket a comship bracket.

Unfortunately, no crossover ships. Characters MUST be from the same franchise, but not necessarily the same series. (Examples Yoko Sakaki x Mokuba Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V and DM would be permitted, but Yoko Sakaki x Ash Ketchum from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon would not.)

There is ONE exception to this! If your characters have canonically interacted in official crossover media, you are permitted to send in the ship as their crossover media versions. (Examples Blossom Utonium from Powerpuff Girls x Captain Stickybeard from KND would be permitted, due to the Cartoon Network Fusionfall game. As would Fischl from Genshin Impact x Sirin from Honkai Impact 3rd, as Fischl appears in Honkai Impact 3rd. Noncanonical crossovers such as Hal Jordan x Ben Tennyson due to Death Battle will not be counted as legitimate submissions.)

You can submit as many times as you like, but you may only submit each ship one time.

Due to Polymatsu winning it's same-source tiebreaker last round, Polyamorous ships are fully permitted, as long as you can provide a valid source image.

Yae Miko x Diona Kätzlein is a guaranteed entry because it's my blog and I do what I want.

Submissions Here:

[its-to-the-death]

Bracket D Matchups

Round 1

Diddy Drop Rap (The Donkey Kong Country cartoon) vs Sympathy for the Devil (song by The Rolling Stones)

Ready As I'll Ever Be (Tangled the Series) vs Jester (Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return)

Brains (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) vs Hawk Moth theme song (Miraculous Ladybug)

The Spy and the Liar (I Expect You to Die 2) vs What's My Name (Descendants 2)

The Executioner (Umineko no naku koro ni) vs World Burn (Mean Girls the musical)

This Day Aria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs The Devil's Song (The Cuphead Show)

Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians) vs One Thing (RWBY)

Black (Homestuck) vs A Story Told (The Count of Monte Cristo)

Evil Queen (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure) vs I Am Octavio (Splatoon)

Favoured Son (Ulysses Dies at Dawn by The Mechanisms) vs Daughter of Evil/Aku no Musume (The Evillious Chronicles)

Die House (Cuphead) vs The Boys are Back in Town (To Kill You) (The Boys)

Professional Pirate (Muppet Treasure Island) vs Your Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Holding Out for a Hero (Shrek 2) vs When the Going Gets Tough (Spongebob Musical)

Our Love is God (Heathers) vs Macavity the Mystery Cat (Cats)

Dentist (Little Shop of Horrors) vs Rogues Are We (Holy Musical B@man)

It Has To Be This Way (Metal Gear Rising Revengeance) vs The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)

Round 2

Sympathy for the Devil (song by The Rolling Stones) vs Ready As I'll Ever Be (Tangled the Series)

Brains (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) vs The Spy and the Liar (I Expect You to Die 2)

World Burn (Mean Girls the musical) vs This Day Aria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians) vs A Story Told (The Count of Monte Cristo)

I Am Octavio (Splatoon) vs Daughter of Evil/Aku no Musume (The Evillious Chronicles)

The Boys are Back in Town (To Kill You) (The Boys) vs Professional Pirate (Muppet Treasure Island)

Holding Out for a Hero (Shrek 2) vs Our Love is God (Heathers)

Dentist (Little Shop of Horrors) vs The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)

Round 3

Ready As I'll Ever Be (Tangled the Series) vs The Spy and the Liar (I Expect You to Die 2)

This Day Aria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians)

I Am Octavio (Splatoon) vs Professional Pirate (Muppet Treasure Island)

Holding Out for a Hero (Shrek 2) vs The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)

Round 4 (Bracket Semifinals)

Ready As I'll Ever Be (Tangled the Series) vs This Day Aria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Professional Pirate (Muppet Treasure Island) vs The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)

Round 5 (Bracket Finals)

This Day Aria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)

Winner: The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)!

[goddamnwebcomics]

The First Tournament for Next Webcomic Riff is on!

This is your bracket for Round 1.

Match 1:

Sly Cooper Thief of Virtue: The iconic raccoon faces his worst adversary yet, completely transparent political commentary. It is about a guy desperate for attention ranting about how the world has been ruined by liberals or something. Fancomics can't get worse than this!

Crash Bandicoot Retold: Yes, it has been ten years since I riffed the whole series, but now it's time to bring the Retold Saga to a new blog, with new riffs, new insights and maybe even new drama! SuperSaiyanCrash's Magnum Opus, a plagiaristic and gory tale of a Bandicoot and his five kajillion new OC friends.

VOTE HERE!

Match 2:

Work Sucks: Two furries look for a job while being constantly devoured by monsters. It's an overly specific fetish comic.

The Focus: Another furry wants to fulfill his dream of becoming an "Academy Ranger", don't worry about what that is because the webcomic will never tell you that. There is also a lot of shitcockfucking and repetitive dialogue.

VOTE HERE!

Match 3:

The Lightbringer: Linkara's early internet masterpiece about a superhero who is trying to bring light to a dark corrupted world. It is so fucking lame even Lightbring-I mean, Linkara himself dislikes it.

Nimona: That webcomic with the quirky powerful girl that got turned into an animated movie. Does it being popular automatically mean it's good? Mmmhhh ehhh meeeeh, just vote for it to find out.

VOTE HERE!

Match 4:

TwoKinds: Arguably the most famous human-x-furry webcomic on the internet. For almost 20 years it has inspired and shocked people with its lazy writing, fetishization, horrible protagonists and usual webcomic issues.

Grim Tales from Down Below: Bleedman's Magnum Opus, a story where edgy animefied versions of Cartoon Network characters commit real life tragedies. It has been on the polls before. But can it win this time?

VOTE HERE!

You have until 8th of August to vote for these, after that we'll move to Round 2.

[talenlee]

Fundie Dating

Fundie Dating

I feel like this probably could afford to be a dread month theme, but hey, it’s smooch month so let’s go with it for now.

Content Warning: Religious dating in a church environment. Some mentions of domestic abuse.

How’d you learn to date?

I’m not trying to be facetious here; I know that I had this really weird, unnatural vision of the whole experience because I never really did it, not at least, the way that I understand it’s done. What I know about it is mostly filtered through sitcoms and cartoons aimed at my age bracket of the time, and included things like having money to go out to dinner together and there were rules about having a nice jacket and you had to pay for things, and you needed transport and it was all tied to things that I just never had. I never had a car so I never took anyone anywhere. I never really had steady income as a kid so I never took anyone anywhere ‘nice.’

I knew how I was supposed to date, though. I knew that the right way to do things was to approach the pastor and tell him I had an interest in one of the girls in the church and to ask him what he thought and for his godly guidance. If he was okay with it I should go check with the girl’s dad (who the pastor might talk to first), and then if that was okay, I should go talk to the girl about it (whose dad probably told her). In this exchange, note, that I should not talk to her directly, certainly not to start with. Certainly not to build an engagement; there were two layers of gatekeeping to get through first, and an added component there was that they might talk to my father about it before anything went on in that direction.

I had no idea what girls were meant to do if they were interested in a boy, but I kinda think they had to throw out hints or just tell the boy to go check with the pastor.

I know it went in waves and I know it had some measure of planning to it. When new kids were born into any church, there was always some talk from pastors about what other kids were born, around the same time, and even with their genders being key factors for consideration. I even heard a pastor boast about it when talking about couples my age that got matched up – you know, he thought about that when they were kids and then they grew up and he recommended they date when they came to him and then hey, now they were probably going to get married. And that’s a totally normal thing in that community and it wasn’t really until I was a grown adult that I thought back on that and thought how weird that was.

This wasn’t even in the fundie church, mind you; this was later, in an Anglican church, where a minister was giving me advice for coping with my loneliness and sadness and rage, mostly from the fundie church, where he explained what a good job he did shepherding and counselling his flock, but which also had the inescapable feeling of how weird it was to hear this dude boasting about how he’d managed to call-shot two babies hooking up in fifteen years’ time.

In the fundie church, I was not in a cohort that started dating yet; I was fourteen years old when we left and neither I nor the other three members of my age range had started to reach out. Given that was our options, with two boys and two girls, that wasn’t exactly enticing prospects.

When I escaped into the real world and started trying to build relationships like these, I was both incredibly inept at them and confused by what to do. TV shows relied on you having this big blob of things to work with; you dated girls from your school, but what did that mean? I know I spent a lot of time literally just hanging around a girl I was interested in and that was it, eventually resolving to leave her alone when it became clear that it wasn’t a thing that interested her. Which you know, that’s not bad but maybe I shouldn’t have needed such a long slab of time to piece that one together when I was just told ‘no.’

The thing is, after that point, there were basically two internet girlfriends, one of whom turned out to live near me and went to the same anime club as me and suddenly I had an actual relationship and that one’s been going strong for twenty years. At no point though, do I think that either Fox and I thought of it as ‘dating’ though – we didn’t dedicate times to go to special places, I’d just go to her place and hang out (because her parents were less weird than mine).

I think about this when I think about all those relationships from my childhood, in the churches, that all, literally every one, ended unhappily. I do not know a single relationship in my age range in my cohort from my church days that lasted, and overwhelmingly commonly, it’s because women in those relationships were ignored and their interests or preferences were discarded in the name of being good partners… until something broke.

I think that dating, certainly play dating and social dating in that time tends to be a useful experience so you can get an idea of what it’s even like, being in a relationship. Not even necessarily ‘where’s it going’ or ‘what if you break up’ like those are fake questions – just that I feel that one of the things I and my cohort needed to make sure I didn’t make more mistakes was a chance to date, and learn how to date, was an opportunity to, well play at it.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary #FundieStuff

[lady-of-disdain]

Inuyasha isn't children's media dipshit. Inuyasha has blood and gore and aired on toonami/adult swim. Grow the fuck up. Its a fucking anime. Learn to tell the differences between fiction and reality. Please develop a fucking brain.

LOL! This sounded like me when I was 12-15 and defending the “cartoons” I was watching to my friends who were too mature for animated television, and were making fun of me for watching this stuff.

“Look there’s cussing! It’s totally made for a grown-up audience!”

First of all, as someone who was an avid Adult Swim viewer back when it was first created (am I dating myself yet?) I can confirm that just because ‘Adult’ is in the name doesn't mean the programming block was actually marketed for adults. (Well yes to adults too, but we’re talking adults in the late 90′s and early 00′s that were into fart jokes. So like Beavis and Butthead alum.) Advertisements for the late-night programming would start airing between 3 to 5 PM ON CARTOON NETWORK (generally not the time most adults were tuning in), around the time that middle-schoolers and high-schoolers were home.

But even then, saying an anime aired on Adult Swim doesn’t mean the target audience of that anime were adults. Back in the late 90′s and early 00′s western tv networks were having a hard time figuring out when to air Japanese anime. Shows were generally given a “test run” on Adult Swim in their Toonami block, which aired earlier than some of the rest of their ‘spicier’ programming. According to the Toonami Wikipedia page: 

“Toonami initially ran as a weekday afternoon block on Cartoon Network until 2004, when it transitioned into a Saturday evening format until its closure four years later. Cartoon Network's block was primarily aimed at children aged 9–14.”

Other anime that aired on Toonami: Fullmetal Alchemist (TV-PG), Yu Yu Hakusho (TV-PG), Trigun (TV-14), Sailor Moon (TV-14), Voltron ‘84 (TV-Y7), Dragon Ball Z (TV-14 in its original unedited form, TV-Y7-FV in the edited version), and Gundam Wing (Not Rated but suggested 13+ in the unedited version, TV-Y7 in the edited version)

 Inuyasha 2000-2004 (TV-PG)

(These are the US television ratings listed on IMDB)

If the shows were popular enough, they were either also picked up by other networks or if they could be edited to get a younger rating would be aired earlier in the day. My little sister (who was about 9-10 at the time) and I watched Inuyasha after school, during the day. ;)

BUT WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT INUYASHA RIGHT? We’re talking about Yashahime.

IMDB doesn’t have a rating yet, but on Hulu, it’s rated TV-14. That means safe for children aged 14 and above.

Does this mean that children under the age of 14 won’t be watching it? OF COURSE NOT. Sailor Moon is rated TV-14, and I was watching Sailor Moon in 5th and 6th grade. Sailor Moon was being marketed to girls between the ages of 10-15 in the 90′s.

But marketing in the 90′s is different from today right? And Yashahime being a sequel to a show that aired in Y2K means that it’s marketed only for adults that grew up with it right? For example, my sister who watched it when she was 9, and is now an adult, with a now 9-year-old child of her own......OH WAIT!

No. Yashahime is trying to cash in on the same children’s media nostalgia trap that Pokemon struck gold in, that Disney is trying so hard to cash in on with their terrible live-action remakes, and that many other 90′s kids media sequels, remakes, and reboots are trying to do today. Not only are they trying to catch the attention of the adults that remember these properties, but more importantly adults that now have kids that are the age today that these adults were back when they watched the originals, so they can share this property they loved as kids with their own children.

And we don’t just have proof of the nostalgia marketing strategy that so many of these properties are using, and that we all KNOW they are using. We can also go off of the general marketing strategy, and air time that Yashahime has to know what age range this show is being marketed for.

In Japan, Yashahime is being aired on Yomiuri TV in the early evening instead of late at night when anime traditionally marketed for older viewers airs, and alongside other children’s/young teen programming like Detective Conan (Case Closed). In fact, both of those shows are in the perfect time bracket for both adults just off work, and children before it’s too late for bed so that the family can watch it together. (Also makes sense that Case Closed it being aired with it since that show originally aired back in the early 2000′s too I think).

So in the sense that Yashahime is being marketed, and aired with the intention that children should, can, and will watch it, yes, it is children’s media.

[cartoonmeangirlbracket]

FINAL ROUND

[sophiexteresa]

Thomas Sanders Instagram Q&A Transcript

From @thatsthat24’s Instagram story, 25/8/2020. Questions in bold. Text added to the story in (parenthesis/brackets), and descriptive info in *italics*. I tried uploading the video(s) too, but Tumblr is having issues, so here’s the transcript only! 

Thomas: I had some time this evening so I figured, hey, why not? Another lil’ Q an’ A, so if you want to ask a question *posh French voice* be my guest!

When approximately will the next sanders sides be out? Very good question! Uh, we are aiming this for a late September release, that’s what we’re all working towards.

Favourite musical you have been in or just favourite musical in general? This is really tough, I can’t decide. I’m between Rent where I was in the ensemble, Peter Pan where I played Slightly Soiled, which was just one of the lost boyos — boyos? Boys — and, uh, Into The Woods where I played Cinderella’s prince and that’s where Roman’s first costume came from.

Are you ever gonna due your hair purple again? I loved it! Yes! I miss the purple hair too.

Do you love me? *laughing* Yes of course! I do love me.

What would each of the sides’ reaction be to seeing the Grand Canyon? *speaking very quickly* Roman would be revelling that we made the journey, Patton would be marvelling at the memories being made, Logan would be telling you to look at these fascinating signs for important information, Virgil would be telling you to ‘get back from those cliffs!’, Janus would be telling you to take pictures to make it look like you’re next to the cliff, ‘for clout’, and Remus would be like *Remus voice* ‘you could push somebody and get away with it’.

Also when will we get more Picani, I miss him? You and me both, Bri, and honestly with the amount of amazing cartoons that have come out recently *sighs while smiling* yeah, I am a-hankering (?) to get back to Emile!

How have you been doing, like really? Mental health is important as you teach us: I feel like everybody’s kinda struggling with mental health right now, especially people in the USA with COVID. Uhm *clears throat* for me I continuously struggle with the balance between work and leisure time, um, social media makes that difficult, blurs the lines, and I’m working on it.

Do you have any tattoos? Umm, I don’t, uh, I struggle with the permanence of tattoos. And like do I, can I, make a decision that I like? But! There are tattoos that I might like. Where I’d put them, I have no idea, umm, but I think like, maybe like, little stars!

What rank of “Gay” are you? Big gay? What rank? *speechless pause* uh... General. You know? I wanna do my duty. Come back a hero. An all-American Queero *gets an idea* *roughly quoting Hamilton* Queer comes the General!

Can you please make Logan day something Patton would say? *Logan’s voice* Something Patton would say? Umm... please, I request more baked goods from the kitchen so that I can fill Thomas’s body with more trans-fats at 3 am. I don’t know, I don’t like this game.

Have you ever dated a girl? *awkward silence* I have. It was pretty uneventful.

Do you miss your friends? *laughs* Oh... *face crumples as if he’s about to cry*

What are you voice acting in or are you now allowed to say? Not until tomorrow.

When did you know you were gay? I think I answered this one on the last Q&A, but it was early. I was like, 9 or 10 at least.

When will we see Gavin? Gavin has started school! He’s back in his hometown, so I don’t know when I’m gonna see him. He’s still getting taller — I can actually include a picture of him that his mom sent me after he got a new little hairdo *insert photo of an awesome Gavin here*

Do you miss vine? For like, sentimental reasons, yes. Uh, I mean, technically it had its issues and I don’t miss being restricted to 6 seconds anymore *laughs*

What has been your favourite part of the day? My favourite part of today was actually... I came up with this last minute short video, and I got it done and I sent it to some friends and they really liked it. I have to save it until Thursday thought, but it’s just nice to come up with stuff that makes your friends laugh.

Janus acting like Remus? *Remus’ voice* Remus here! Looks like the Dukey just dropped in! *Remus’ laugh* *Takes a breath and snaps into Janus’ character* I spend a lot of time with him so I’ve had a lot of practise.

Why do I feel like we’re gonna have another angsty Virgil moment? When is Virgil not being angsty...?

Please can you say trans rights? Uh, heck yah trans rights! I, uh, this one was very simple but I wanted to say it!

Do you think Virgil would be into anime? Actually, if you remember from, uh, Accepting Anxiety, uh, part 2, there’s actually a Death Note poster in his room, so he definitely likes some anime.

Hi! Can you say hola to the Hispanic fanders in el vecindario fander? Please? We love you! Oh my gosh, *a very naturally american pronunciation* hola! that’s very kind of you guys. I appreciate all of the support you guys give, and I love all of you guys. 

STORYTIME! I love you: *upbeat voice* Storytime! I love you back.

How gay are you? Like, 15 gay! I rank General! 

How did you end up meeting and babysitting Gavin? Gavin is actually Leo’s nephew, so he would come up here, uh, during the holidays or during the summer, and alternate being baby-sat between me and Leo’s mom - his grandma.

What was the inspo for Janus’ outfit? Ooh, that’s a really good question, uh... Joan had a vision in their mind for almost kind of like this early 20th century or late 19th century kinda Jack the Ripper vibe.

Any advice for gaybies to fit in with society? Don’t apologise for being yourself. If people have an issue, that’s their issue that they have to work through. Do not apologise for being yourself. 

What type of gay are you? (Math gay, plant gay, caffine gay, etc): Wait, there’s such thing as a math gay? I am absolutely that, and I feel like I’m just gonna be naming traits about myself but I’m a trivia gay, a driving gay, apparently a math gay, a Disney gay *laughs* and a theatre gay.

Not a question but I’m glad to be alive at the same time as someone as great as you: Dude, this stuff is really sweet. *laughs* That’s really sweet, umm, trust me, I feel the same way about all of you. Honestly.

Why don’t you own a doggo yet? I... went to Petsmart today - I didn’t get an animal, but like... I’m thinking about it and this question is like... hmmm...

I’ve run out of cartoons to watch, any recommendations? Owl house! Owl house, owl house. I just tried it, and I immediately got hooked. Infinity train’s also a really good one, duck tales is amazing, and I’m getting ready to start Tangled: the animated series, so *shrugs*.

What is Patton’s opinion on rats? *adorable Patton voice, slowly zooming in on his face* They are tiny little squishy precious babies!!!

How do I ask people for their pronouns? I don’t know, I mean, I don’t think it’s like a big deal? I hope we could get to the point where we could just be like ‘what are your pronouns?’ and then they would tell you, and then you’d just, you know, carry on the rest of your conversation. 

A circle has no bounds and it’s the same with your beauty: This is really precious, and it of course came from Nash (?) who is a poet, he published a lot of wonderful, wonderful poems on twitter, they are are amazing, and you are once again far too sweet, Nash. 

Dream role? This is a pretty broad question, so maybe dream theatrical role would be Sweeny Todd, dream movie role would be anything in the marvel universe, uh, really just give me anything in any voice acting role, *smiling mischievously* egg rolls are also really good.

Can Remus please say ‘I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand’? *Remus voice* I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand! (love that vine)

Are there still plans for the Roman series? *nods* Oh, yeah, yeah, it was definitely hindered by COVID, uh, as was this Sanders Asides episode that’s coming up, which is why it’s taking longer in the editing stage, it is our, uh... strategy, for circumventing the obstacle, and we hope you like it.

Are we still getting an August playlist? Uh, heck yah you are! But honestly, actually, if you guys have any suggestions I should include in the playlist, lemme know! I’d be happy to get some suggestions - but yes. You will be definitely getting one.

May I please see your feet? *confused, slightly disgusted expression* *begins to move the camera away from his face* *holds up a tape measure, extended to 1 foot long* *grins*

Any shows on Netflix to recommend? Umbrella Academy is really good, Dragon Prince, uh, She-Ra, of course, umm The Hollow (?) is really cool, there’s a documentary about video games called High Score, that was really fun.

Roman, who would you say the gayest side is? *Roman’s voice* Oh, we’re all equally gay, okay? *chuckles* it’s a sexuality, not a personality trait. *takes a breath and speaks quickly* I’m just kidding it’s *sings* meeeeee!

If you were not a YouTuber, what would you see yourself doing and why? Uh, maybe putting my chemical engineering degree to some use. *laughs awkwardly* Uh, I went to school for 5 years for that one.

Like you literally make me so flipping happy: I’m glad! I don’t know what I’m doing to do that, but the feeling is absolutely mutual. 

Can we have Virgil saying “Falsehood”? *hair already over one eye, in Virgil’s voice* Uh, c’mon, okay, sure. *very quietly and unenthusiastically* falsehood. Is that good? Is that? I don’t know, I don’t wanna steal his bit.

Which Sanders Side do you feel you embody most? Ah, I would probably say it’s either Patton or Roman because Patton can be definitely me, all the time, just really enthusiastic about things and finding things cute, but Roman... Roman’s sensitivity, oh. That’s me. 

What was the first job you had? I actually worked as a page in a library! A- pages basically just kinda like, shelve books, check books out; it’s one of the chillest jobs I’ve ever had, one of my favourites, and my dad always had a lovely dad joke for it: ‘you’re working as a page, when do you get promoted to a book?’

How tall are you? I usually say 5ft 10, but I think I’m trying to be a little more realistic with myself. And I’m probably 5ft 9 and a half. *zooms in on his face, staring into the camera* I’m holding onto that half a foot for all dear life. 

DROP THE SKIN ROUTINE PLEASE! This is very sweet, uh, I, *laughs nervously*, uh, I use Curology? They’re very nice. Umm, just... different kinds of lotion, I guess. (I suppose I should write down what I do lol)

Can we get a FALSEHOOD? *is standing* *clears throat* *points upwards from his eyeline* FALSEHOOD! 

Do you have a boyfriend if not are you planning on dating soon? I do not, uh, dating is kinda difficult right now midst COVID, you know, kinda tough... love... in the time of Corona... umm, but, you know, option’s open.

When was your first kiss? I’m sure I’ve answered this somewhere, it was in high school, I might have been 15 or 16. It was with a girl. *Shakes head* And all I can remember is hitting teeth. A lot.

Can we get a super super vague hint about the new Asides episode?  Alright, I’m getting ready to end the Q&A, so this, you know, if you’ve made it so far you deserve this super vague answer, umm... it includes a side that was not in the last episode. (This isn’t much, I apologise lol)

Thomas: And that is it for this evening! Thank you so much, you guys, for watching. I know some of you are still over in Europe watching and it’s like 4 in the morning, and I need to go to bed so thank you all so much for your questions - I gotta do this more often ‘cause I really enjoy it. Love you guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

HGPC 15 - 16 | Muhyo and Roji’s s2 2 (14) | God of High School 2 | Deca-Dence 2 - 3 | Fugou Keiji 3 | Appare 4

HGPC 15

Is this Element of Water? Or Element of Plants?

HGPC 16

I sort of suspected the three broke up because it would have been like someone stole Fumi from Tetsuya…and I was right. You know that myth about how guys and gals can’t be friends ever? It seems to be in service of that.

It’s Nodoka Hanadera.

…I wonder if this vow will become relevant later?

There was a poster for the Ojamajo Doremi project, Looking for Witch Apprentices (Majo Minarai wo Sagashite). Makes sense though – they’re by the same studio.

Fest = festival, although not in the matsuri sense of the word. It’s more like a smaller, non-seasonal matsuri.

I wonder if the tree will be attacked?

I’m still wondering…how does a penguin have paws?

Is there a tiny tree?...Yep. Just a small sprout, but it is a new tree.

Muhyo and Roji’s s2 ep 2 (14)

…and they continue to misgender Goryo…the manga’s finished translation, so I don’t see why the translator couldn’t go and get a copy to check. (Unless I remembered wrong and misgendering him was actually something they did up until a point? Looks are deceiving, especially in anime…) It’s even on the Shonen Jump website.

I realised that I’m the only Muhyo and Roji’s fan, possibly in existence, in the English world right now…if I were to leave this show alone, it would die alone…and that would be far too sad.

The Showa era was a time of great Japanese prosperity, so it makes sense that there would be lots of building projects too.

“Working from home” – Makes more sense in this day and age.

Oh, I didn’t expect them to put in a really close reference! This probably refers to Minky Momo, except that seems to be an 80s series.

…if this were any other series, this girl would get isekaid.

Japanese doesn’t have a lot of gender-specific words, like I know Italian does. When Ebisu says “Ma’am”, he’s going “yes?” in the Japanese and Nana goes “kono hito…” (This person…) rather than “This woman…”…If they’re going to dub it with all these references to Goryo being a woman intact, then I suggest they not dub it at all.

I think this is the first time Muhyo’s thrown the orb he generates…

I know all this misgendering is going to bug me, but…this is one of the first series I finished. I can’t get in touch with the translators to tell them they misgendered a character, because I have no authority – if I, a rookie translator, went up against pros, based only on what I know of the Japanese language and my memory of the manga…I’d be toast!...However, I shall try, for the sake of the manga I still cherish the memories of.

God of High School 2

Apparently this dude *gestures at this bespectacled man in the first few seconds of the episode* is Iron Man (well, Robert Downey Jnr.)…but also the POTUS. Yeah, that’s confusing, but I’m just parroting what I’ve heard.

Okay, someone explain to me what “charyeok” i-Oh. It’s a concept endemic to God of High School. You could’ve translated the Korean term, people.

Mujin…that sounds familiar…ah! The organiser of the GOH tournament! That’s why.

LOL, there’s a “Yes Man” in the brackets, paired off with Daewi.

Mori is eating a banana, huh? Way to play up the monkey imagery.

Slipper jerk…? (I admit it’s been a few weeks and several anime since I saw the last episode, because I was working on the boss battle for the AniList watching club, so remind me whio that is…?) Update: That would be Manseok.

I would assume the flashbacks are actually the characters’ introductions in the webcomic, if Mori’s was any indication.

LOL, I forgot how much advertising they put all over this thing…

So Mori uses taekwondo, but what’s Daewi’s style again…?

I would assume this refers to the Korean War if it’s referring to anything real. I’ve never heard of a properly-named style of anything which was an “anything goes” style, unless you count the various wacky martial arts in Ranma ½.

Geesh, Elfen Lied with its gore was a breeze to get through, but seeing scenes like Nozomi getting tortured (in Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka) and Gamdo getting his arm twisted here…that’s nasty…

Uhh…I swear this is just Hisoka (from Hunter x Hunter)…or Chrollo (from the same series). (LOL…?)

Deca-Dence 2

W-Wuh? You mean, Deca-Dence is a game of sorts?! VR or something?!

This aesthetic is very much like neurons…and cartoons…

(Spoilers for Kado!) If you’re wondering what’s going through my head right now, I feel similar to when Kado became a a fighting show and zaShunina the villain.

Ah, giant ball trackpads (trackballs). I miss those…

I think “The Power” is “ka no chikara”, but I might be wrong. Update: Yup, that’s what the site says.

This ED is interesting, visually speaking.

Deca-Dence 3

I get the feeling the girl – the friend - was programmed to say things to dissuade people from joining the Power.

A lesser show would discard Fennel, I think. See, he popped up in conversation the other time and now here he is in the…uh, digital (?)…flesh.

Sounds like AI, doesn’t it?

This guy reminds me of Kamina from Gurren Lagann…then again, so do the Inferno Cop sunglasses on Hugin.

Those rings on the white-haired guy’s hands remind me of Hifumi’s…for some reason, the host has them.

Pipe is a Gadoll, but he (?) reacts terrified to the yell of “Gadoll!”, hmm?

Fugou Keiji 3

It’s backkkkkkkkkk!

Ooh, mooncake! Also, Daisuke…okay, calling Kambe by his first name is weird, so Kambe…only has one stud in his left [ear]. That’s interesting.

Notably, there is no age listed for Kambe on the official website. We only know he’s < 30.

…LOL, Kambe is such a petulant child.

Ah? Rounin? (That’s what you call someone who failed to get into uni and tries again.)

Atsuta Jingu. It’s in Nagoya.

LOL, got in trouble for a barrel roll. (partially joking)

Ah, so that’s what Onuki and Miyano (voices of Kambe and Kato) were talking about at the con – the fact the director says a lot with a little.

Huh? Is this like that one killer who was streaming their stuff online to garner fans for the YouTuber PewdiePie? (I forget which prolific case that is, though.) Update: I think that’s the Christchurch bombings.

The stud seems to be Kambe’s connection with HEUSC.

The group’s name is read “Yokoitsu”.

Those missiles were just for producing smoke, it seems.

I just realised the finger gun from Kato in the ED looks a lot like Spike Spiegel’s (Cowboy Bebop).

Appare 4

I missed this anime as well! AMQ makes you miss shows even more than usual, it seems.

I love how they made a Red Stapler incident (see TV Tropes on an explanation for that) out of this one boat-car.

Not even tea can convince the great Appare…(partially sarcastic)

You need a big imagination to do a test run of a car in your head…

The song “I got it!” seems very appropriate for a moment like this (Xialian’s racing debut).

I’m worried David will ram Xialian’s car…

…I predicted it. What’s going to happen now…?

[miranema]

When you are still talking about a show you are too old for..

warning: it’s loooong (TL;DR section at the bottom)

Just to be clear I have no intention to look into and review any more Winx Club related content and it’s not just because the current environment is not conducive to this kind of endeavor. After I finished paying off my debts I considered getting back to this but eventually decided against it because some of my thoughts regarding this show have changed a little and I overall no longer see the point. One of the things I wanted to accomplish when I first started was to figure out why this show never appealed to me when it first came out on the FoxBox and well, the answer was very simple if not ridiculously obvious. This show was not made for me.

I was a few months short of 13 when the show premiered in the US and had just enough experience in the genre to have expectations, and this was the problem. When western magical girl series started to show up in the early 2000s, I expected shows that improved upon the standards and cliches left by the likes of Sailor Moon and its genre contemporaries, not just in terms of visuals but writing as well. Winx Club however, seemed more in line with the type of cartoons that (since the 80s) popped up every now and then as promotional material for emerging lines of fashion dolls generally targeting younger girls, with the only difference being that it had a progressive story-line. Even if you argue that Winx Club was not so merchandise-driven in its first seasons, contemporary fashion and aesthetics had always been the selling point. By then, shows that prioritized visual appeal over writing and seemed to exists primarily as toy commercials, were starting to lose my interest. I was also getting tired of certain staples like romantic relationships being bland but senselessly overemphasized and characters (specially protagonists) being archetypes with little to no complexity.  

As an adult, I since looked back at shows of similar quality/target audience and I have surprisingly been able to find joy within them leading me to another conclusion. It’s not that I am too old and weary to appreciate animated media aimed at young girls. It’s more likely that Winx Club is a sore spot for me because it is the show that made me realize (if subconsciously) that networks in charge of delivering animated media to mainstream television were no longer invested in appealing to me. As a non-white, lower-middle class girl who was never all that into relationship-melodrama I felt that most cartoons of my day didn’t really catered to my interest and I think I saw the rise of Winx Club as a bitter indication that even the animated genres that I liked or tolerated would eventually become completely inaccessible to me.

I had some trouble finding out what the target audience bracket was for the first season. From what I eventually gathered it is either 4-8 or 5-10, although apparently concept-wise the show was intended for a slightly older age group. I give more credence to the first bracket because honestly I think this show works best as baby’s first magical girl series. The less experience you have in the genre, the less fed-up with tropes and the less expectations you have going in, the better.

Lets just make a thing clear. There is no such thing as being too old to watch cartoons. An art medium is not inherently tied to an age group. Unfortunately, everything is at the mercy of capitalism, specially art produced for entertainment. There is a lot of stupidity and outdated ideas governing how mainstream shows are made and to whom they are made for. Industries don’t like to take chances and they are reluctant to change in accordance to society unless an increased in profits can be assured to some degree…

Look, look! I swear I was just going to post a simple paragraph-long note to whoever cared, stating I was not going to continue reviewing Winx Club even though I am no longer in debt. But, I made the HUGE mistake of looking at the Wikipedia page, specifically the part where they quoted show creator Iginio Straffi defending the controversial choices made for season 8, and here I am, annoyed and rambling. To paraphrase, he claims kids around 10 years and older just don’t watch cartoons as much as they used to (sure, Jan) and they just had to retooled their show for a younger demographic and that just means it cannot be as complex as it used to be. Yes, complex is a word he ascribed to the earlier Winx Club content (level of complexity to be clear). I rolled my eyes, I died a little inside and overall I also decided, among other things, to never read another Iginio Straffi interview ever again.

In an effort to wash away this BS and exorcise some demons let me throw here some of my still lingering unwarranted Winx Club thoughts in no particular sequence before this platform collapses any further:

Winx Club is one of if not the longest running western magical girl group series and its success is likely attributed to the fact that back when it premiered in the US, it was the only accessible and visually appealing series to come out of the genre since the beginning of the millennium. It practically had a monopoly of its intended audience. In my neck of the woods, it was available without the need of a cable/satellite subscription. In contrast, Dinsey-owned W.I.T.C.H. didn’t have that same accessibility and I don’t think I even need to bring up anime in general. The one other magical girl show from around the same time that I remembered coming across in syndicated broadcast was Trollz, and well you look that up and tell me how much staying power that looked like it had.

If the show has struggled in recent years is of course NOT because older kids don’t watch cartoons nowadays. Rather I think the show runners are not quite grasping how the circumstances surrounding their target audience have changed since the early 2000s. There are a lot more options out there in terms of entertainment even if you narrow things down to only western magical girl cartoons, not to mention that Winx club no longer has an edge on accessibility. I also think we consume media faster and that along with all the new options of entertainment means we have less head space to dedicate to one single show. Putting a new coat of paint to the newer seasons is simply not enough to remain relevant.

Adding to the above, It’s been well over ten years since the show first premiered. I don’t have data to prove this, but I am willing to bet that a sizable chunk of viewers were there from the beginning or joined at the start of the Nickelodeon era. It makes little sense for changes in writing to include hacking its continuity, rewriting established lore and deleting whatever meager character development they ever had. Maybe it’s not a good idea to turn your show with progressive storytelling including aging characters, into a cash cow you intend to milk for as long as you can and beyond. Maybe they should have given the early seasons a proper conclusion and laid the groundwork for new groups of characters to lead fresh series within the same universe...or you know, a full reboot.

I am not saying that the show should suddenly conform to my tastes (though that would be nice) after all it was not made for me. I just think that people that stuck with it deserve more than what they have been getting. I saw some positive feedback with regards to World of Winx but from what little I saw I don’t think it was good enough to be the series for older fans. Tone might be slightly different but writing-wise it feels more or less the same as the current series. The attempts at humor are still not landing for me at least. Also, how old does Straffi thinks the older fans are? 10? Who knows, maybe season 8 did its job in drawing-in the next gen, and maybe the planned live action series will be all that the older fans have been asking for. I do wish them the best.

Regarding things that I changed my mind about (though only a little bit)...In more than one occasion I referred to Bloom as a mary sue and this has been digging at me. Either the term has become toxic and too often unfairly assigned to any female character in a leading position, or it was always an improper way to discuss mediocre writing. There are main characters that are created in part to serve as vehicles of indulgence for its intended audience. I don’t think these these type of characters need to be complex to be successful or serviceable but I do think relatability and/or likability are indicators of whether or not a specific indulgent protagonist is effective. I didn’t find Bloom to be effective but she seems to be popular enough with the younger range of fans and that’s what matters. All I am saying is that Bloom could have easily been better and all it would have taken was for the writers to slightly lower the pedestal they put her on. Otherwise, they should have just stuck with the Magical Bloom title so no one would have delusions that the show would ever focus on anyone else.

I stand by most of my other major criticisms of the series. Though I admit that when I was looking at each episode I would spend an unreasonable amount of time on small things or personal pet peeves.I maintain however that to whom a show is intended for should not be a determinant of quality and there are things worth discussing even if one is not within the age-range of said audience. However, it’s not hard to tell what Winx Club is mostly about; it’s romance-centered. If you are not all that invested on that sort of stuff or you don’t like what the show is offering, then there is little point in sticking around because you are just going to get more and more caught-up on the flaws. The fantasy world elements while ambitious in scope are not well developed and consistency is an issue since the beginning that only gets worse as the series goes on. Unless you can subsist solely on the aesthetics and merch-friendly elements, I wouldn’t bother beyond the first movie.

If Winx Club had been the definitive blue print shaping the future of western magical girls shows, I would probably feel justified in making this much of a fuss. However, pretty much any other show I have seen after the fact has been a deviation and an improvement. I believe that’s because more content creators that grew up with the genre (and understood the many ways it could be improved) are finding opportunities to bring their appreciation for it into the mainstream. It’s pointless for me to still complain about the older stuff. Heck, I can even find good things to say about Angel’s Friends and this is definitely a cartoon that was shaped by the success of the fairy school show. 

Winx Club is fine, it has as much right to exist as any other piece of mindless entertainment aimed at any demographic.  And that’s that.

TL;DR

I am not reviewing Winx Club stuff anymore. I just had a lot of thoughts that were brought up by an annoying Iginio Straffi quote I saw on the Wiki page while I was working on that last post. Extended rambling is what I apparently do when I am mildly upset. I barfed all this out in the hopes that I won’t think about this show again anytime soon.

 If morbid curiosity gets the better of me, I might give future Winx Club content a watch. I just won’t post about it because it seems I am incapable of finding joy in it.

No, I don’t take criticisms of the bad spelling/grammar of my ramblings. Let this mess be. This is also not a place for debate, the only discourse I welcome here is whether or not relatability is a word. Online dictionaries say it’s fine but my word processor says it is not a thing. Discuss! (JK)

Stay safe,

[comshipbracket]

Comship Bracket 3 Submissions!

Antis DNI

Do you have certain ships that may fall under the category of "Comship" that you'd like to see fight against other ships, seeing which is the most popular of all on tumblr? Well, I may have just the thing for you!

This bracket works similar to most brackets, but rather than sending in one character, you'll send in a ship and let me know which characters the ship is between, which franchise the characters are from, why it falls under "comship" for you, and a little bit of propaganda for the ships!

While we want all participants of this bracket to be kind to each other and to not put down any of our ships, we know how some tumblr users can be. I would advise not looking at some notes if you can't handle the way certain individuals may talk about these ships. Block and report is the easiest way to deal with those that are cruel.

Now! Some Character guidelines:

Characters MUST be fictional in their entirety, this means no character depictions of real people (so no DSMP ships, no YouTuber ships, etc.)

Your ship MUST count as a Comship in some manner, whether that's through age gap, relation, species, etc. It's important we keep this bracket a comship bracket.

Unfortunately, no crossover ships. Characters MUST be from the same franchise, but not necessarily the same series. (Examples Yoko Sakaki x Mokuba Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V and DM would be permitted, but Yoko Sakaki x Ash Ketchum from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon would not.)

There is ONE exception to this! If your characters have canonically interacted in official crossover media, you are permitted to send in the ship as their crossover media versions. (Examples Blossom Utonium from Powerpuff Girls x Captain Stickybeard from KND would be permitted, due to the Cartoon Network Fusionfall game. As would Fischl from Genshin Impact x Sirin from Honkai Impact 3rd, as Fischl appears in Honkai Impact 3rd. Noncanonical crossovers such as Hal Jordan x Ben Tennyson due to Death Battle will not be counted as legitimate submissions.)

You can submit as many times as you like, but you may only submit each ship one time.

Due to Polymatsu winning it's same-source tiebreaker in the first bracket, Polyamorous ships are fully permitted, as long as you can provide a valid source image.

Nozomi Yumehara x Coco from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 is a guaranteed entry because it's my blog and I do what I want.

Submissions Here: